Franklin Central Junior High, Indianapolis IN

Original Research by School Decision on Franklin Central Junior High

Franklin Central Junior High serves seventh and eighth graders in the Franklin Township Community School Corporation, on the southeast side of Indianapolis. It is a large junior high, and its student body reflects a mix of backgrounds, with White students making up the majority and Asian students as the second-largest group, followed by Black, Hispanic, and multiracial students. More than half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a measure of economic need that parents may want to take into account when considering the school.

Academically, the school’s performance on state assessments sits at a level that families should examine closely. In both math and English language arts, roughly a third of students tested at the proficient or above level. This places the school’s overall proficiency index well above the midpoint when compared to all other districts in Marion County, landing in the top quartile. That relative strength is a notable positive, but the actual proficiency rates themselves are modest and suggest that many students are not meeting the state’s academic benchmarks. Because the school only covers seventh and eighth grade, there is no high school graduation rate to report. Parents should note that science and social studies testing data are older and from a prior school name, so those results are not current.

The housing context around the school is characteristic of a suburban area within a large city. Home values in the zip code are higher than the average for Indiana, and a typical mortgage payment and rent both sit at levels that many households could manage but would still require a solid income. The area has seen home values rise modestly over the past year, in line with what the broader national market has experienced.

The district itself did not produce any recently confirmed, parent-relevant changes from public sources. That means a family considering this school will want to reach out directly to the district or school for updates on programming, staffing, or facility plans.

For a parent weighing options, Franklin Central Junior High is a large public junior high serving a diverse and economically mixed student body. Its academic proficiency, while above the county median, is still a soft spot, with most students not reaching the proficient bar. A family whose child is working at or above grade level may want to look into the school’s support structures and enrichment opportunities further, particularly since the data does not include information on advanced coursework, special education, or English learner services. The school’s size and suburban setting within southeast Indianapolis may appeal to families who want a comprehensive junior high experience in a growing area.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grades 3-834%

School 34% · District 44% · ▼ 10 pts below district

▼ 6 pts below state median · ▲ 12 pts above county median

English language arts

Grades 3-838%

School 38% · District 39% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 1 pts above state median · ▲ 16 pts above county median

Science

Grades 3-854%

School 54% · District 45% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median · ▲ 33 pts above county median

Social studies

Grades 3-868%

School 68% · district not reported

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▲ 21 pts above county median

This schoolFranklin Township Com Sch Corp, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income24%Higher-income53%29 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income25%Higher-income47%22 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income29%Higher-income50%22 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income24%Higher-income59%35 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income22%Higher-income48%25 pp gap

Grade 8Lower-income25%Higher-income42%17 pp gap